The Tenets of the Mazdayasni Zarathushtri religion, as believed in by thousands of faithful Parsis/Irani Zoroastrians.
Standing up for our Glorious religion on the internet since the mid 1990s.
The complete tenets and many articles are on http://tenets.parsizoroastrianism.com

This essay was written by a 15 years old student as a class assignment. The teacher had asked all her students to write about their individual religion.

Full credit goes to the parents of the child who right from such an impressionable age inculculate faith and teach them to be faithful towards its own religion in which one is born.

You may photocopy this essay and circulate it among all Zarathushtris.

Firdosh

My MAZDAYASNI ZARATHUSHTRI RELIGION

By Farishte Parekh

My Mazdayasni Zarathushtri religion was established thousands of years ago, may be over 15,000 years in recent history.

From time immemorial certain highly evolved souls took incarnation on this planet earth. They were known as 'MAGHAVS' who laid down divine laws which were attributable to God and proclaimed them as 'MAZDAYASNI DAEN'. The creator of the universe was termed: 'MAZDA'.'YASNA' means: Attuned to. And 'DAEN' is the word for Divine Laws (Religion). Thus the full connotation of the word 'MAZDAYASNI' is: Attuned to the Creator (Mazda).

On studying the ancient history of Persia we learn that Maghavs were in existenceeven before the lost continent of Atlantis. Two of the three islands in which the continent of Atlantis was fragmented due to the shifting of earth's north-south poles were called 'ARYANA' and 'POSEIDION'. The Aryan and Poseidon civilizations were very advanced. Maghavs who inhabited these islands have preserved the occult knowledge of the Mazdayasni Daen for posterity which is, of course, esoteric.

King Jamsheed, Shah Fareidoon of the PESHDADIAN dynasty; the immortal Kai Khshroo, Kai Lohrasp, Kai Vishtasp, Kai Kobad, Kai Kaus and all monarchs of the KAYANIAN dynasty belonged to the Maghav groups. The monarchs were thus not only temporal rulers but also spiritual ones. The great Athravan ASHO SPITMAN ZARATHUSHTRA was a Maghav born of a long line of Maghavs whose family genealogy can be traced to nine generations. The Kayanian dynasty began in about 9,000 B.C. and Paegumber Saheb (Prophet) Asho Spitman Zarathushtra made his advent during the reign of Kai Vishtasp (About 7,500 B.C.).

From the above synopsis it may be noted that Lord Zarathushtra was himself a Mazdayasni born in a family practising Masdayasni religion. He revived the ancient Mazdayasni religion by bringing back to mankind the occult knowledge and popularizing it by moral precepts through his 'GATHAS', and 21 Nasks of Frashusho Manthra. The people thereafter from the time of Kai Vishtasp began to call themselves 'MAZDAYASNI ZARATHUSHTRIANS' and the religion became known as 'MAZDAYASNI ZARATHUSHTRI' which is practiced hitherto.

According to the ancient scriptures of my religion, conversion and inter-marriages are specifically prohibited. I shall briefly deal with these two in the following paragraphs.

We Mazdayasni Zarathushtris believe that every religion is sent by God to mankind with its respective divine fields which MUST be adhered to. It is ordained and we humans have no authority to alienate the religion of our birth or convert one born in a particular religion to other. It is our firm understanding that prophets, from time to time, have given us perfect directions through the respective religions they have established in this world. There are proper guidelines laying down the disciplines for each individual born under a particular religion to follow and be governed by the specific divine fields.

According to 'BUNDHISHIN', one of the ancient Pahlavi works of our Mazdayasni Zarathushtri religion, our souls themselves have volunteered to take incarnation on this earth, undergo suffering, meet with the good and evil and gain experience for their progress in the spiritual world. For this purpose, in which religion a soul will be born and which body it will inhabit is predetermined. Just as a soul cannot change the body in which it has taken inhabitation, it cannot change the religion with the particular inbedded divine fields it has chosen. Thus one is here to gain experience of the good and evil for his soul's spiritual progress. This is what we regard as a definition of 'life' and its very purpose. Accordingly, we Mazdayasni Zarathushtrian firmly believe that this is the very reason why different souls take birth in different religions and inhabit different bodies to gain the comprehensive experience. One birth in one particular religion is not enough. Births from time to time in different religions fore, ordained until perfection is attained. Moral precepts certainly help; but it is the disciplines of each religion the individual has to faithfully follow on every birth, that leads to the perfection our souls crave for the ultimate union with the Divine.

It may be realised that religion is something more than a mere course in moral science. It is a complete spiritual system comprising of ALL the four integrated and inseparable elements viz GATHAS (moral precepts), TARIKATS (disciplines), MANTRAS (prayers in a particular language) and KRIYAS (ceremonies) for furthering our evolution and the progress of our souls in the spiritual world.

According to our religious scriptures developed from time to time, we believe that the five religions established on this earth have been spiritually classified under these 'JZHIRUMS':BURJISH Jzhirum - The Mazdayasni Zarathushtri faith, TARAD Jzhirum - The Hindu faith, HASHEMJzhirum -The Muslim faith, NAHIDJzhirum - The Jewish faith, KAIWAN Jzhirum - The Christian faith.

To preserve this spiritual classification, inter-marriages are considered as against the above established format. In fact, to preserve the characteristics of creatures living on this earth, intercourse between different breeds is not encouraged in nature. According to all religions including mine, inter-marriages are specifically prohibited. The ancient divine laws contained in our holy scripture 'VANDIDAD' clearly state that mixing the Mazdayasni genetic pool with the genes of individuals born under a different religion is a sin. This quotation is from Vandidad (Faragard 18 Para 62): "Then Ahura Mazda replied: 'O Holy Zarathushtra! Those Mazdayasnis who are mixing their seeds with nonMazdayasnis are committing sin."

We are further enlightened by the scriptures that God, the Omnipotent, one without an equal, has appointed by contract his own agent we call 'Satan' (The destructive and ephemeral principle of Cosmos) for a fixed period. During the licensed regime, Satan is permitted to test all souls by spreading his malevolent and deceitful influence over all beings. Accordingly, Satan is not an adversary of God. The evil aspect has been specifically assigned to him by God. It is all according to the plan of the Lord to enable our souls to undergo the experience for their perfection which alone can lead to salvation.

A question of moral philosophy arises from the aspect of 'Duality' – the dual aspect of good and evil. One may wonder how evil could emanate from God. At the outset, it has to be borne in mind that there is no such thing as absolute evil. It is only a relative mental concept. Shakespeare has very rightly put it: 'There is some soul of goodness in things evil; would men diligently try it to distill?' What we specifically consider as evil is due to that part in us which we have derived during the evolutionary process from our earthly nature and body of an animal ancestry. When spirit and matter are in two different spheres, we learn that whatever thwarts the growth of spirit (soul) is evil. Whatever is against the Will of God is regarded as evil even though pleasures of senses may temporarily appear pleasant. We Mazdayasnis are, therefore, directed to fight the evil within us. 'All evil thoughts, words or deeds will lead us to most unpleasant plight' is an admonition form 'VISPA HUMATA'. Hence, our fervent prayer is always: 'Grant me, O Ahura Mazda! In thy rank to stand; a valiant soldier to the end!'

It may be reiterated that 'good' and 'evil' are twins that are contrary in every respect, so that we can learn to distinguish between the real natures of the both. Evil may thus be considered as an outer layer which has to be shed to liberate the soul in the inner sanctum. The interplay of these two elements - the 'good' and the 'evil' - can only make the manifestation on the physical plain possible. Accordingly, 'Satan' does the unpleasant work assigned to him under the supreme authority of God for us to gain victory over the flesh. This is why we have the concept of 'Soul' and 'Body' (A gross matter devoid of eternal life). The body passes through the various stages of evolution and the human body is the present ultimate product of that evolution, the soul within which is trying to merge with Ahura Mazda.

According to my religion, this earth is considered as a battle field. There is no 'WANVAS' (Detachment from our day to day existence with the worldly attachments and to go away in a jungle to become a recluse) for us. We are required to lead a virtuous life, marry and have children, thereby fulfill our worldly moral responsibilities from birth till death. We have to fight the 'evil' like a soldier in a battle field. Our 'SUDREH' (The sacred white cotton garment) is considered as an armour and 'KUSHTI' (The white coloured woolen chord) as 'KAMARBANDH' (army belt). Every Mazdayasni Zarathushtri MUST wear these two next to his or her body at all times for all twenty four hours. Both these are considered as our weapons to help us to fight the 'evil'. They generate within us the spiritual energy to tread on the path of our Mazayasni Zarathushtri Daen.

A Mazdayasni Zarathushtri child is initiated in our religion before attaining puberty by the performance of a religious ceremony called 'NAVJOT'. The child at this ceremony affirms to abide by the Mazdayasni Zarathushtri Daen and is accordingly initiated in the fold. The priest performing the Navjot invests the child with a Sudreh and Kushti, makes him or her recite the Kushti prayers and the child thereafter declaresallegiance to our religion, promises to remain a Mazdayasni Zarathushtri and wear Sudreh and Kushti for all times to come.

According to our religious scriptures, burial or cremation on death is considered as improper. What we believe in is 'KHURSHED NIGHARASHNI' (Exposure of the dead body to the rays of sun). Nature claims its own by such exposure without defiling its elements - earth and fire. This is the reason why, wherever possible, 'DOKHMAS' (Towers of Silence – Towers surrounded all around by high walls open to sky) are built for the disposal of the dead. It is believed that the soul remains with the body for four days after death to sever its earthly ties and starts its heavenly journey thereafter on the morning of the fourth day. A special religious ceremony is performed in the morning on this day which we call 'CHAHRUM'

It is incorrect to say that we Mazdayasni Zarathushtrian are 'Fire Worshippers'. Firdausi Toosi who wrote the epic 'SHAHNAMAH' (History of the Persian Masdayasni Dynasties) very aptly puts it: 'M pendar ke aatash parastan boodi; Perestandeh Pak Yazdan boodi' (Don't say that they are 'Fire Worshippers'. They pray to 'PAK YAZDAN' (Almighty God) through the medium of fire.)

We regard fire as the most sacred creation of Dadar Ahuramazda and hence we build 'ATASH BEHRAMS and AGIYARIS' (Fire temples) for Mazdayasnis to offer prayers to the Almighty God. We also keep live fires and symbols of fire in our households for worshiping Him. We revere fire and consider it as an 'AALAAT' (Meaning: A thing or material in which certain high level spiritual energies are awakened). Our 'Sudreh' and 'Kushti' are also regarded as 'Aalaat'.

An 'Aalaat' generates subtle waves and vibrations of spiritual energy within it and becomes attuned with similar waves and vibrations flowing in nature. A circuit is thus formed which enables the 'Aalaat" to absorb the streams of Ahura Mazda's divine light and then emanate and transmit all around.

The reason why we do not allow nonMazdayasnis to enter our sacred fire temples is due to this very science of vibrations. We believe that all God's creations vibrate at their individual frequencies allotted to them. Only when the frequencies are compatible, harmony is created for the elements to get in tune with one another. It is just like the principle of radio transmission. The audio frequencies transmitted from the broadcasting station by means of the amplitude or frequency modulated radio waves (A.M. and F.M.) are received by the radio through its aerial and they are then matched with the frequencies generated by the radio with the means of its large air condenser to enable its speaker to vibrate and reproduce those audio frequencies in the form of music, song or speech. If any waves of noncompatible frequencies are picked up by the aerial, for instance the frequencies of an electrical spark emitting from a nearby defective electric switch, there will be disturbance in the audio reception. The same principle applies when a Mazdayasni prays before the holy fire in the fire temple. The frequency of the Maznayasni is compatible with the frequency of the holy fire which has been consecrated by ceremonies and prayers to specially match his or her frequency. It may be pertinent to note that people born in different religions vibrate on different frequencies as each religion has different divine fields embedded in it. Accordingly, a nonMazdayasni, because of being on a different frequency than that of the consecrated fire in the fire temple, would not match for the communion with the Divine through the medium of the sacred fire in the Mazdayasni fire temple.

Above are the salient features of my religion and our inherent beliefs.